San Pedro Sula \san-'pa-thro-'su-la\ City (pop., 2001: 439,086), north¬ western Honduras. It is located about 100 mi (160 km) northwest of Teg¬ ucigalpa. Founded by the Spanish in 1536, the city has been almost completely rebuilt. It is the country’s chief industrial centre and second largest city; it produces a wide variety of items, including textiles, food¬ stuffs, clothing, beverages, and furniture.
San Salvador City (pop., 1992: city, 415,346; metro, area 1,522,126), capital of El Salvador. Founded near Suchitoto by the Spanish in 1525, it was moved to its present site in 1528 and declared a city in 1546. It became the capital of the country in 1839. During the late 1970s it became the focus of violence between the government and left-wing political groups. It is the country’s financial, commercial, and industrial centre, producing textiles and clothing, leather goods, and wood products. It is also the site of the University of El Salvador. Devasted by earthquakes in 1854, 1873, 1917, and 1986 and by heavy floods in 1934, it has been reconstructed frequently.
San Salvador See Bahamas
San Sebastian See Donostia-San Sebastian
San Simeon Former estate of William Randolph Hearst in southern Cali¬ fornia. It was built on a vast private estate of 245,000 acres (99,000 hect¬ ares), developed in the 1860s by Hearst’s father. In 1919-20, with the architect Julia Morgan, Hearst began construction of a complex of luxu¬ rious buildings and gardens to serve as a country house. The main resi¬ dence, later called Hearst Castle, is a Spanish Renaissance building with 150 rooms, a cathedral-like facade, and two bell towers. Lavish interior decorations were obtained from European churches and palaces. The site’s embellishment continued (1919—48) with numerous subsidiary buildings, Mediterranean gardens, statuary, pools, fountains, a pergola, and priceless art treasures collected from all over the world. The complex is now a state historical monument.
San Stefano Vsan-'ste-fa-.noX, Treaty of (1878) Peace settlement imposed on the Ottoman government by Russia at the end of the Russo- Turkish War. It established an independent Bulgarian principality that included most of Macedonia, realigned other European provinces of the Ottoman Empire, and ceded parts of Asian Turkey to Russia. Opposed by Austria-Hungary and Britain, it was modified at the Congress of Berlin.
Sanaa \sa-'na\ Arabic Sana a’ City (pop., 2004: 1,747,627), capital of Yemen. Located in the western part of the country, it was built on the site of an ancient pre-Islamic stronghold that has been traditionally dated to the 1st or 2nd century bc. Its people converted to Islam in 632. Nominally under Ottoman sovereignty from the mid-16th century, it was effectively
controlled from the early 17th century until 1872 by the imams (leaders) of the Zaydl ShTite sect. It became the capital of an independent Yemen after the Ottoman defeat in World War I (1914-18). In 1990 it became the capital of the unified country. For many centuries it has been the chief economic, political, and religious centre of the Yemen highlands. The old walled city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986.
Sanaga River \,sa-na-'ga\ River, central Cameroon. It flows southwest into the Bight of Biafra opposite the island of Bioko. It is about 325 mi (525 km) long. Falls and rapids are found along much of its upper course. Dams and reservoirs regulate water flow and harness the river’s hydro¬ electric power.
Sanchez Cotan Vsan-chath-ko-'tanV Juan (b. 1561, Orgaz, Spain—d. Sept. 8, 1627, Granada) Spanish painter. Profoundly religious, he was influenced early by the spirit of Catholic mysticism that dominated the intellectual life of Toledo, where he was a still-life painter. He entered a monastery in 1603 and remained a Carthusian lay brother until his death. Though his religious paintings are not exceptional, his still lifes are considered among the best produced in Europe; their detailed realism, visual harmony, and illusion of depth convey humility and mystic spiritu¬ ality. His concern with the relation¬ ships among objects and with achieving the illusion of reality through the use of light and shadow was a major influence on the work of Francisco de ZurbarAn and other later Spanish painters.
Sanchi sculpture \'san-che\ Early Indian sculpture that embellished the gateways of the Buddhist relic mound called the Great Stupa at San¬ chi, in Madhya Pradesh, a magnifi¬ cent monument of the 1st century bc.
The two square posts of each gate¬ way are topped by capitals of sculp¬ tured animals or dwarfs, surmounted by three crossbars that end in spirals and are covered with crowded relief sculptures depicting events of the Buddha’s life. In the angle between the lowest crossbar and the pillar are sensuous figures of female earthly spirits.
Sancho I known as Sancho the Founder (b. 1154, Coimbra,
Port.—d. March 26, 1211) Second king of Portugal (1185-1211). The son of Afonso I, he resettled depopu¬ lated areas of Portugal, established new towns, and rebuilt frontier strongholds and castles. He encouraged foreign settlers and granted large tracts to military orders. When Portugal was invaded by the Almohad Moors, he sent a Crusader fleet against them (1189), but he lost control of Portuguese lands south of the Tagus River (1191).
Sancho II known as Sancho the Cowled (b. 1207, Coimbra, Port.—d. Jan. 4, 1248, Toledo, Castile) Fourth king of Portugal (1223— 45). His reign was marked by a series of vain attempts to bring political stability to his strife-ridden realm. He renewed the war against the Moors and gained control over most of the Algarve (1238-39). He was deposed (1245) in favour of his brother Afonso III.
Sancho III Garces \'san-cho...gar-'thas\ known as Sancho the Great (b. c. 992—d. Oct. 18, 1035) King of Navarra (1000-35). Son of Garcia III, he proved to be a skilled politician and succeeded in extend¬ ing control over all the Christian states of Spain. In 1010 he married Munia, daughter of the count of Castile, and he elevated Castile to a king¬ dom in 1029. By dividing his kingdom between his four sons, he made fratricidal wars inevitable after his death.
"Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber," oil on canvas by Juan Sanchez Cotan, c. 1602; in the San Diego Museum of Art, Calif.
SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART, GIF OF ANNE R. AND AMY PUTNAM
Indian sculpture that embellished
Architraves of the north gateway (toran) to the Great Stupa (stupa No. 1) at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India
ART RESOURCE-EB INC.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1680 I SancholV ► Sanders
Sancho IV known as Sancho the Brave (b. 1257—d. April 25,1295, Toledo, Castile) King of Castile and Leon (1284-95). The second son of Afonso X, he won the backing of nobles and military orders in his effort to gain recognition as heir, and he usurped the throne on his father’s death. Sancho defeated an invasion of Andalusia by the king of Fes (1290) and won the support of Aragon by marrying his son to the daughter of James II. He depended greatly on his warrior-queen, Maria de Molina (d. 1321).